Artist: KISS
Title: “KISSWORLD – The Best Of KISS”
Label: Universal Music
Release Date: 1/26/2019
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 4/5

Lo and behold my friends, there is yet another “Greatest Hits” compilation for the legendary masked men of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal – The Hottest Band In The World KISS!!!! This one is entitled “KISSWORLD – The Best Of KISS” and it hit the streets in late January and I’ve finally got a copy of this in my hands. As a lifer in terms of KISS releases, I will be most likely purchasing another 50 hits packages if they come out and my main interest in this one was to see what sort of booklet might be included in the packaging. I’ll return to that topic later on but first let’s take a quick glance at the “20” tracks included on the release. From top to bottom there doesn’t seem to be a single track of “filler” and instead are all go to songs in the now massive KISS catalog. I found it interesting that the release began with “Crazy Crazy Nights” because when that song first hit I was aghast but now so many years later have found it to be enjoyable Rock and Roll.

There aren’t any omissions in terms of the necessary staples as “Love Gun”, “Detroit Rock City”, “Shout It Out Loud” and of course the seminal “Rock and Roll All Nite” are included. The latter one being the original studio track as opposed to the one that we often find on such a release that hails from the essential “Alive” album. There are NO live tracks on this compilation. The post-makeup years are well represented with the most notable tracks from the era such as “Tears Are Falling”, “Lick It Up” and “Heaven’s On Fire” in addition to the album opening “Crazy Crazy Nights”. I think I would have liked to see “Who Wants To Be Lonely” here but it is not.

Speaking of omissions on “KISSWORLD”, there isn’t a single track from the much lauded “Carnival Of Souls” album (their last studio work with Bruce Kulick), nothing from the absolute classic “MTV Unplugged” and most shocking of all – nothing from the Core Four’s individual solo albums. I guess the view was that a number of those tracks were already released on the “Ikons” CD (which was discussed in great detail HERE in case you didn’t see that). At the end of the day, I really didn’t miss any of the omissions because I have the complete catalog at my fingertips and its been fully digitized in my Google Play Music library as well so I am never found wanting for a particular track that I cannot find.

I was pleasantly surprised to find “I’m A Legend Tonight” included from the “Killers” album which was also a greatest-hits release but one with four brand-new unreleased tracks. That song remains a favorite as it reminds me of the night I found this release on LP while on a date with a music hunting companion so many years ago. I spoke about that release HERE if you’re interested. The whole thing closes with the bands most prominent tracks from their final two studio albums in “Modern Day Delilah” and “Hell of Hallelujah”. I say final because the band doesn’t seem to want to focus on new material as much as deliver the classics. I’m okay with this actually.

The packaging. Packed in a jewel case for those not simply ordering a digital version of the album, there is a meager four page insert which really means its two double sides on the “booklet”. The front shows KISS as they are today with Gene, Paul, Tommy and Eric while on the inside is a very classic shot of the band from around 1974 of Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter. The tracks are repeated on both sides of the second page which I felt was a bit of a cheat. They should have at least added a makeup visual of the “Creatures Of The Night” era and some of the “Unmasked” meaning non-makeup years since a number of the included tracks come from this era. After the booklet that came with the “KISS 40” CD back in 2014 I was very disappointed in the booklet if it could even be called that.

As you probably know by now, KISS has embarked on their farewell to the rigorous touring routine on an outing they are calling the “End Of The Road” World Tour. PiercingMetal has been documenting all the alerts and announcements about it and hope to catch them a couple of times before the giant stage is packed away and the grease-paint is relegated to their popular “KISS Kruize” yearly happening. Catch up on the reports about the tour HERE. Overall this is a solid representation of the bands career until the next one gets released, which you know will happen sooner or later.

Track Listing:
1. Crazy Crazy Nights
2. Rock And Roll All Nite
3. I Was Made For Lovin’ You
4. God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You II
5. Detroit Rock City
6. Beth
7. Lick It Up
8. Heaven’s On Fire
9. Tears Are Falling
10. Unholy
11. Hard Luck Woman
12. Psycho Circus
13. Shout It Out Loud
14. Calling Dr. Love
15. Christine Sixteen
16. Love Gun
17. Shandi
18. I’m A Legend Tonight
19. Modern Day Delilah
20. Hell Or Hallelujah

Official Website: http://www.kissonline.com